10 True Detective Season 2 Dream Cast Pairings We Would LOVE

The fervency with which fans have taken to HBO's original series True Detective is nothing short of impressive. The series' striking visuals, gripping storyline, and incredible acting have helped turn this show into can't-miss TV of the grandest variety. But given the series format — it's an anthologized, like American Horror Story — and the fact that Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey's story ends after the finale next month, some minds have turned to casting season two. And we've got some ideas of our own.

When it comes to HBO’s most popular and inventive drama (at least until Game of Thrones returns in April), there’s a seriously ravenous audience that loves (nay, obsesses) over its every hypothetical scenario — just look at Patton Oswalt’s Twitter feed. Nowhere was that more evident than in the immense popularity of the hashtag #TrueDetectiveSeason2 this week, wherein folks cast (mostly jokingly) dynamic duos to take over the starring vehicle.

We thought we’d do them one better, though: what if, instead of joking, we took a serious look at some pairs of killer actors who’d take on the impressive mantle of the series and do it justice? We've already done it for dream directors, so why not the cast? The result was 10 pairings we’d really love to see on the Nic Pizzolatto series. So we decided to share them with you. Feel free to leave your own serious contenders in the comments. After all, the more to deduce from, the better.

Winona Ryder and Elisabeth Moss

With Ryder’s steely, confident brand of crazy and Moss’ impressive investigative seriousness (as evidenced in Top of The Lake), these two could potentially hit it out of the park, so to speak. Just imagine: a dusty, dried up town somewhere in middle-of-nowhere California? Ryder as a down on her luck cop stranded in a hometown she wants nothing to do with and Moss as her following-in-the-family-footsteps partner. Admit it: you’re into it.